The cyber-optician revolution (lyoncapital.fr)

15.4% of French people gave up healthcare for financial reasons in 2008, according to the Irdes*. Others are looking for solutions to treat themselves at a lower cost. In Lyon, low-cost health care is now a common sight. But how are our teeth or eyes treated there? Do the prices of medicines vary according to neighbourhood? Is the Internet a solution, or are there others? This is the investigation of Lyon Capitale, the monthly magazine of May.

"We are health professionals, not just shopkeepers," defends Lyon optician Thierry Caillat. However, what attracts consumers, especially today, is the price. Especially since the reimbursement by the social security system is shrinking.

Not everything can be done, and yet...

To attract them, the low cost optical brands propose more attractive offers than the others. The market is huge: with almost 80% of the population wearing glasses or contact lenses, the sector's turnover is over 5.7 billion euros. When it comes to such large sums of money, anything goes (see The discount boycott in Lyon). Starting with advertising campaigns, which are strictly forbidden: "Health professionals do not have the right, by virtue of the code of medical ethics of the national council of the order of doctors, to use means to attract customers. But the public authorities are allowing this to happen," laments Alain Gerbel, president of the French National Federation of Opticians.

Will the webcam replace the optician?

The second revolution in the optical market is the Internet. The aim is to cut out the middleman and bring down prices. The future is online sales," confirms Laurent Lévy, the head of Optical Center. By 2020, we estimate that it will approach 10%.